College Football Betting: Ohio State Among 2025-26 CFP Favorites

It has always been a love-hate relationship between fans and head coaches, but perhaps none have been bigger –or more intense– than what has gone on the last 52 days between Buckeye Nation and Ohio State’s Ryan Day.

Let’s just say it’s a good thing OSU Athletic Director Ross Bjork didn’t fire Day this past November when Buckeyes fans were lynch-happy on social media following a loss to rival Michigan.

Late FG in Championship Huge to Bettors

Yes, happiness reigns in Columbus – while disappointment looms in South Bend – following Ohio State’s 34-23 win over Notre Dame in the College Football Championship played Monday night in Atlanta.

There was also plenty of happiness and joy Tuesday morning for the bettors who wagered the Buckeyes as significant chalk over the Fighting Irish. Ohio State closed -8 at Bookmaker (visit our Bookmaker Review), and a late field goal by the Buckeyes kept the contest from resulting in a push as well as providing a payday for bettors who got in early on a -9.5 spread.

The contest turned late in the second quarter and early in the third when Ohio State scored a couple of touchdowns – both by Quinshon Judkins – in the span of less than 3 minutes on the clock. That was part of a 31-0 onslaught on the scoreboard by the Buckeyes.

Judkins would score three touchdowns in the game, yet cede the MVP award to his quarterback, Will Howard. A transfer from Kansas State, Howard completed 17 of his 21 aerials, two of them for scores, to wrap up a strong playoff performance in which he went 82-109 (75.2%) through the air for 1,150 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Irish 13-3 ATS for 2024-25

For Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish, it was obviously a sad end to what was otherwise a very successful season. Notre Dame overcame one of the program’s most embarrassing losses in Week 2 to Northern Illinois to ride into the Championship game on the strength of a 13-game win streak.

That very same success was appreciated by bettors as the Fighting Irish covered the NCAAF odds in 13 of their 16 games, including 11 in a row during the long win streak.

Notre Dame took charge of the game with a long opening drive for a touchdown, consuming nearly 10 minutes on the clock and culminating in a 1-yard run by quarterback Riley Leonard. But Leonard and the Fighting Irish were stymied after that until the senior quarterback hooked up with Jaden Greathouse on a TD pass late in the third quarter, and again in the fourth to keep Notre Dame’s hopes alive.

Heisman & National Title Hype Surrounds Longhorns

Now we get to sit back and see just where the free agents, er, student athletes who enter the transfer portal end up prior to spring practices.

Some have already made their moves, such as former Georgia QB Carson Beck who has switched over the Miami Hurricanes, while others have decided to move on to the next level, like Texas QB Quinn Ewers who will test the NFL Draft waters.

Ewers’ decision opens up the door for Arch Manning to assume the Longhorns’ starting quarterback job, and that has him sitting pretty as one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy in addition to Texas being the favorite to win the CFP Championship.

Top-rated sportsbooks have sent the Longhorns out as the top pick to win it all after the Longhorns reached the semifinals of this year’s CFP bracket. The team that beat them, Ohio State, is second on the futures list, and that makes for what could be a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Week 1 when the Longhorns and Buckeyes meet in Columbus.

Texas is early +450 chalk, with Ohio State at +500. Georgia (+600), Oregon (+750) and Penn State (+750) follow to round out the early top 5. Seven of the top 8 teams were participants in this year’s CFP bracket.

Will CFP Rules Change for 2025?

About the only constant in college football over the past 5-10 years has been the fact nothing has been constant from one season to the next. That doesn’t figure to change between now and the first kickoff for 2025.

Some of that change will come at the conference level where league commissioners and school athletic directors mull potential modifications to how their own championships are determined.

There could adjustments made to the playoff structure, or what CFP executive director Rich Clark referred to as “tweaks.” There was plenty of complaining about how some at-large bids were handed out this time, but any change for 2025-26 would require unanimous approval by all conference directors.

One thing that won’t change is that love-hate relationship between students, the alumni and their head football coaches, though for the next 7 months or so, Ohio State fans love Ryan Day.